Sunday, August 13, 2006

President Bush's Worst Nightmare: Christians Look at 9/11

Throughout the many events of the Bush administration, there has always been a theme of religious piety. President Bush was godly so his deeds and those of his team would reflect a higher moral standard, especially after that sex machine Bill Clinton. Theologians had a variety of issues with our last President - chief among those being his interpretation of the "Love thy neighbor" clause. Of course, as things went along with President Bush, his interpretations of some key Christian tenets, also seemed flawed. For example, the tremendous emphasis the Bible places on helping the poor, was replaced in this administration with a calling to help the mega-rich. Indeed, the essential purpose - the guiding light - of this group appeared to be the financial betterment of the well-to-do. Another problem was the Christian position on killing, compared to the Bush Doctrine. "Thou Shalt Not Kill" was amended by the Bush bunch to include "Unless We Feel Like It." Of course, none of these problems with the fake cloak of morality are new. That's why the Bible warns about false prophets and the danger of being duped by self-proclaimed pious men who use religious words to deceive. You would think the Religious Right would have been the first to see through this President, but alas they have held firm. Modern Christianity in America places a much greater emphasis on political power and less on following the Bible. It's puzzling, really. We have rich church leaders ignoring homeless people on the way to tell a TV audience that this is a Christian Nation. So it is noteworthy when the publishing wing of the Presbyterian Church comes out with a book called, "Christian Faith and the Truth about 9/11". The author David Ray Griffin is a Christian theologian who has written other books disputing the official story of 9/11, but this one is different. Why? Because it appears to be aimed at President Bush's most steadfast supporters. If he loses the religious community, he will have a very tough time implementing his agenda in these last 2 years of his second term. Of course, that would be bad if you feel he is doing God's work, but terrific if you don't. He certainly says he is. He even said he talked with a Higher Father about the wisdom of going into Iraq. God wouldn't have led us astray there, right? More and more Americans are beginning to see this as a phony religious angle, and if the Christian Community takes off their pro-Bush blinders and really looks at 9/11, this false prophet and his satanic buddy Dick Cheney could be in real trouble.

12 Comments:

Of course, none of these problems with the fake cloak of morality are new. That's why the Bible warns about false prophets and the danger of being duped by self-proclaimed pious men who use religious words to deceive

I've often wondered why more people I see professing themselves as Christians don't ask themselves this sort of thing more often.

In fact, whenever I hear someone saying that God told them this, or God spoke to them about that I keep wishing I could ask that fellow about whether or not they checked that dude's ID. You know, made sure that they were really talking to God, not just someone who said they were.

You would think the Religious Right would have been the first to see through this President, but alas they have held firm.

And why not? They've never had it better. Not only can nobody ring them up on thier blasphemy, they can roll over whoever they want on thier way to thier goals of worldly power.

. Modern Christianity in America places a much greater emphasis on political power and less on following the Bible. It's puzzling, really. We have rich church leaders ignoring homeless people on the way to tell a TV audience that this is a Christian Nation

Bill, that post was a reach. In 'helping the mega-rich' rather than the poor, I assume you are refering to the tax cuts. But if you'd do your research, you'd see that the tax cuts actually resulted in increased - yes, increased - federal revenue. That revenue came from corporations and the wealthy, not the poor. So in that sense, he has helped the poor as they are the ones that most directly benefit from increased government revenue. Also, the Rx drug benefit more disproportionately benefits the poor. Add to that the unprecidented $15 billion pledged to fight AIDS in Africa. Bush has very much sought to help the poor, no matter how much you choose to ignore it. And his school voucher plan - if not blocked by Democrats beholden to teachers unions - would diproportionately benefit poor children by allowing them to flee failing school districts for more successful ones in more afluent neighborhoods.

Now, where you might correctly take issue with Bush ignoring the Bible is with the "Turn the other cheek" passage. Clinton was the master at that - never mustering any meaningful response to the numerous terrorist attacks against our country during his tenure. One thing that President Bush doesn't do is "turn the other cheek."

For all their thumping and screaming, the religious right seems to miss a lot of the key points in the bible. For example, they totally miss what that Jesus dude had to say. He talked about how important it is to feed the hungry, cloth the naked etc. And then there is that comment about how ‘through your deeds you will know me.’

The thumpers claim the only way to salvation is to be ‘born again,’ whatever that means, and send them lots of money so they can tell you how to live.

Bush is no exception. He sucks the poor and middle class dry while watering the rich.

And then there’s Butch’s response, right on cue, harping that ‘Clinton did it!’.

And on what planet is he living in that he thinks the tax cuts actually help anyone but the already rich? Planet Bush, I guess. Where spoiled, indulged, animal torturing children grow up to be given everything, earn nothing, and total screw countries (their own and others). Jeesh!

Christianity lying, and fear-mongering. The Bush clan modus operandi. The good news is that more and more people are finally seeing through it. Then there are the Butches of the world who, for reasons that I'll never understand, cling loyally to the most self-serving and corrupt administration this country has ever seen. Sorry, Butch, but your blind devotion to Bush after all he and his cohorts have done to Americans --middle and lower class, that is -- just defies common sense.

If you are trying to argue that the mega-rich haven't benefited more than any other segment of society under Bush, I just don't think you can back that up. In fact it's a stunning achievement of the Bush spin machine that while his mega-rich cronies are driving to the bank, his other supporters are here defending him. The tax cuts were a case of borrowing from our children and grandchildren to enrich those that don't need it. It's a rip-off. As fas as turning the other cheek, I don't think anyone has a problem with fighting back when someone hits you. But Bush's approach is to order our soldiers to start it, while leaving someone else's kid to feel the payback. He comes out of this in your eyes as a tough guy but the toughest place he's ever been is taking questions in the Rose Garden.

FACT: Federal tax revenues have increased in every year since the Bush tax cuts were implemented.

FACT: Those increased revenues came from the wealthy and from corporations that received those tax cuts.

Those are facts and they are indisputable. The theory behind tax cuts is not that they will increase the savings accounts of the rich, it is that they will spur economic investment which benefits even all us little ol' poor people. Can't argue with results....although I fully expect Bush-haters like laurelhurstdad and quidproquo to try their damndest.

Butchy has been listening to Billo or Rush again. He states ‘facts’ but fails, as usual, to interrupt them.

The increase in revenue is just noise as far as the deficit is concerned. An increase in revenue means nothing if the deficit rises even more.

Most of the ‘job growth’ that was supposed to be the goal of giving large corporations and the super rich a free ride went to minimum wage jobs or, worse, went overseas (which accelerated joblessness here, which itself is a drain on the economy). It’s like when Wall Mart moves in and kills the local businesses. The workers are forced to move to Wall Mart, but then go on welfare because they have less income and no benefits. It ends up costing the local economy far more than they get from the new business (and the profits now go out of town).

Saying that the tax cuts for the rich increases U.S. revenue is like borrowing money from your credit card at 18% interest so you can put it into your savings account paying 2%. Yes, your savings account is now making more money. Hooray! Think it through, Butch.

And when you look at increased revenue by Bush standards, you are doing slight of hand math because you are not taking into account all the programs that have been cut or eliminated.

It is sad to see someone so out of touch with reality. The Bush ‘mystic’ really does work, though. And apparently, there’s a sucker born every minute.

Butch, here's the latest numbers from 2004, as there is a lag. You say the ecomony grew under President Bush: " So where did the growth go? Even if you exclude capital gains from a rising stock market, in 2004 the real income of the richest 1 percent of Americans surged by almost 12.5 percent. Meanwhile, the average real income of the bottom 99 percent of the population rose only 1.5 percent. In other words, a relative handful of people received most of the benefits of growth.

There are a couple of additional revelations in the 2004 data. One is that growth didn't just bypass the poor and the lower middle class, it bypassed the upper middle class too. Even people at the 95th percentile of the income distribution -- that is, people richer than 19 out of 20 Americans -- gained only modestly. The big increases went only to people who were already in the economic stratosphere."

That backs up what I said about the mega-rich. If you average the numbers for everyone things don't look that bad. It's only when you really see where it went, that the true picture of what Presidnet Bush has done becomes clear. That's why they work so hard to brain wash you. So you won't see you've been duped by the Republican Party without sharing in the big pay-off.

Butch, you wrote: "Fact: Federal tax revenues have increased in every year since the Bush tax cuts were implemented."What are your thoughts on this:Fact: Under the Bush administration,the United States is now almost $8.5 trillion in debt, the highest in the history of this country. Given the most recent census, every single American would need to pay $25,000+ to help pay it off.So, tell us again how excited we should be that federal tax revenues have increased.